Israel’s war on Gaza has been ongoing for 15-months, leaving much of the enclave in rubble [Getty]
Donald Trump’s transitional team has reportedly floated the idea of deporting Palestinians in Gaza to Indonesia as part of reconstruction efforts in the enclave.
The idea, reported by NBC news citing comments from an official in the Trump transition team, is part of wider considerations about Gaza’s post war plan.
Rebuilding Gaza following the war is seen as a key part of the long-term solution to the conflict, with a transitional official telling NBC: “If we don’t help the Gazans, if we don’t make their life better, if we don’t give them a sense of hope, there’s going to be a rebellion.”
Much of Gaza has been turned into rubble as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of the enclave, including the territory’s housing, water, education and medical infrastructure.
The relocation of Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom have been displaced by Israel’s war, is being discussed in the context of said rebuilding, with Indonesia being one of a number of locations being considered.
A foreign ministry spokesperson for Indonesia denied knowledge of the idea in a statement issued on Monday.
However, the relocation of Palestinians outside of Gaza has consistently been rejected by Palestinian political actors and regional states over fears that they wouldn’t be allowed to return.
This stems from Palestinian’s historical experience, when 700,000 were displaced during the war of 1948, which Palestinians call ‘The Nakba’, and were not allowed to return home.
Likewise, some far-right members of Israel’s government have called for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
This includes former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who has previously stated he is keen on “encouraging migration” of Palestinians out of Gaza to make way for the resettlement of the enclave by Israeli settlers.
Conferences for the resettlement of Gaza by Israeli settlers have also taken place since the war began, which has seen the participation of Knesset members of the governing parties.
In addition to ideas surrounding the logistics of Gaza’s reconstruction, Donald Trump’s new Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is considering a visit to Gaza to see the dynamics of the ceasefire on the ground.
NBC quoted the transitional official as saying; “there’s a lot of people, radicals, fanatics, not just from the Hamas side, from the right wing of the Israeli side, who are absolutely incentivized to blow this whole deal up.”
Visiting Gaza, the official said, would allow Witkoff to get a “feel” of the ceasefire’s dynamics.
The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, in place since Sunday, has seen the release of three Israeli captives and 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Israel’s 15-month war on the enclave has killed 47,035 people and wounded a further 111,091 others.
